Frydlender



Jan. 24, 1956 s. FRYDLENDER STOPPING DEVICES Filed Jan. 19, 1955 "2 m H: 0 2 M N N a E O vm w W Y kw A 5 United States Patent 1 2,732,089 STOPPING DEVICES Sophie Frydlender, Paris, France, assignor to Lancomc S. A., Courhevoie, France, a corporation of France Application January 19, 1953, Serial No. 331,825 Claims priority, application France June 11, 1952 3 Claims. (Cl. 215-43) The object of the present invention is to provide a stopper for bottles, flasks and like containers.

It is known that stoppers which are generally in use for stopping bottles and flasks offer various drawbacks, due either to the nature of the sealing joint or to the mechanical means which are made use of to stop these containers.

Indeed, on the one hand, the liquid contained in the container may suffer from a contact with the material constituting the joint and, on the other, too tight an application for instance, may render it diflicult to remove the stopping device, While an insufiicient tightness of application does not provide the desired sealing.

An object of the invention is to obviate these drawbacks, by providing a device by means of which the liquid contained in the container is in contact with a sealing joint over a very small area only, while the main contact is made with a glass stopper member which cannot atiect the nature of the liquid in any manner whatsoever.

Another advantage of the invention resides in that a seal is ensured by the above mentioned glass stopper member under the action of a spring; said seal is thus independent of the tightness of application of the cap.

The main feature of the invention therefore, consists in that the device comprises a neck element secured to the bottle neck, and a cap, the latter being screwed on the former, and comprising, inside, a plane-convex glass stopper member carried by a fitting held by a ring in the cap but urged towards the outside of the latter by a spring bearing on the inside of the cap in such a manner that, when the stopper is being screwed on the bottle neck, the sealing of the container be effected only by the action of said spring on the fitting which carries the glass stopper member, the latter coming in contact with the sealing gasket inserted between the edge of the neck element and the upper face of the neck of the container.

Another feature resides in that the position of the ring inside the cap sets up the predetermined tension of the spring acting on the stopper member, and limits the projection of said stopper member inside the cap in such a manner that said stopper member does not come into contact with the sealing gasket until more than one thread of the cap has been engaged with the threads on the neck element.

Various other features will also appear from the following description with reference to the appended drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a bottle showing the neck element;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the cap; and

Fig. 3 shows, in section, the cap screwed on the neck element.

In an embodiment of the invention, the stopping device comprises neck element 1 and a cap 2 (Figures 1 and 2), made of any suitable material such as metal, plastic material etc.

The neck element 1 is secured to the neck 3 of the container by means of a sealing material 5, after insertion, between a rim 1a of the neck element and the upper face 3a of the neck, of a plastic gasket 4. This gasket thus remains constantly applied against the neck of the container.

The neck element 1 and the cap 2 are each provided with a screw thread allowing their assembly.

Inside the cap 2, a plano-convex glass stopper member 6 is arranged, set in a fitting 7, of metal or any other suitable material, behind which is a spring 9, bearing on the bottom of the inside of the cap.

A ring 8, engaging a circular groove provided in the cap and placed therein during the assembly of the fitting, prevents the assembly from coming out of the cap. In addition, the ring 8 keeps the spring 9 at a predetermined tension, but its position is so adjusted that, when the cap is screwed onto the neck element, the convex face of the stopper member does not come into contact with the gasket 4 until at least one thread has been fully engaged.

When the cap is fully screwed in place, the sealing of the container is ensured since member 6 applies against gasket 4 under the sole action of spring 9.

It will be realized that the etfectiveness of this seal is independent of the degree of tightness with which the cap is screwed on. The pressure of the member 6 on the gasket thus remains substantially constant regardless of how tightly the cap is applied.

In addition to the advantage resulting from this feature, the above described stopping device ofiers the advantage that the liquid contained in the container is in contact only with the glass of the stopper member and a very small gasket area. The material for this gasket can thus be more easily selected than when the seal is entirely ensu red by it.

.It is obvious that modifications in shape and details may be made to the above described device, within the scope of the invention.

The shapes of the gasket and of the stopper member may, for instance, be adapted to the requirements oilered by all special applications of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A sealing device for a bottle and the like comprising an externally screw threaded sleeve having an inwardly extending annular flange, an annular gasket of plastic material, said sleeve being tightly secured by means of a sealing material to the neck of a bottle with said gasket clamped between the end of said neck and said annular flange and said annular gasket defining an opening to be sealed, an internally screw threaded one-piece cap adapted to be screwed onto said sleeve, a stopper member of glass-like material having a convex surface adapted to contact said gasket and seal said opening, spring means within said cap urging said stopper member outwardly toward said gasket, means for retaining said stopper member within said cap and limiting the projection of said stopper member with respect to said cap such that at least one full thread of said cap and sleeve may be engaged before the convex surface of said stopper member engages said plastic gasket.

2. The structure of claim 1, wherein said stopper memher is secured to an annular mounting member, and wherein said spring means and said retaining and limiting means operate upon said annular mounting member.

3. The structure of claim 2, wherein said retaining and limiting means comprise an annular groove in said cap, a ring seated in said groove and projecting annularly inwardly into said cap, and an annular flange on said mounting member of greater diameter than the inside diameter of said ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 202,714 Fox Apr. 23, 1878 922,158 Landau May 18, 1909 1,182,917 Lotz May 16, 1916 1,520,088 Schenkein Dec. 23, 1924 2,191,611 Eshbaugh et al. Feb. 27, 1940 2,199,732 Antonson May 7, 1940 2,276,907 Sanford Mar. 17, 1942 2,502,821 Brauner Apr. 4, 1950 

